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DelimitersWhen using the PCRE functions, it is required that the pattern is enclosed by delimiters. A delimiter can be any non-alphanumeric, non-backslash, non-whitespace character. Leading whitespace before a valid delimiter is silently ignored.
Often used delimiters are forward slashes ( /foo bar/ #^[^0-9]$# +php+ %[a-zA-Z0-9_-]%
It is also possible to use
bracket style delimiters where the opening and closing brackets are the
starting and ending delimiter, respectively. (this [is] a (pattern)) {this [is] a (pattern)} [this [is] a (pattern)] <this [is] a (pattern)> If the delimiter needs to be matched inside the pattern it must be escaped using a backslash. If the delimiter appears often inside the pattern, it is a good idea to choose another delimiter in order to increase readability. /http:\/\// #http://# You may add pattern modifiers after the ending delimiter. The following is an example of case-insensitive matching: #[a-z]#i |